‘I really can’t fail’: Cody Simpson upbeat about cloudy Olympics fate

The pop singer-turned-swimmer is remaining philosophical as he faces an uphill battle to qualify for the Olympics and prepares to make a decision about his future.

Cody Simpson has opened up about how he is handling the biggest three months of his life, building a brick wall as he attempts to achieve his Olympic Games fairytale.

In an open and honest interview as part of his now three-year-long ambassadorship with Myer, the pop singer-turned-swimmer revealed he isn’t ready to make a decision about life outside of the pool with his entire focus on June’s Olympic trials and earning a spot on the Australian team for Paris.

A week after finishing fourth in the 100m butterfly final at the Australian swimming championships in his Gold Coast hometown, the 27-year-old says he has done the work, is in the best shape of his life and is laser focused, reflecting his childhood dream to make the Olympic team will all come down to the day.

“In a sense I really can’t fail, because I either succeed, or I don’t, in making the Olympics team this year,” Simpson said.

“A fairytale ending would be nice but it will either happen or it won’t and that is the reality of it.

Cody Simpson in the Myer denim campaign Picture: Supplied

“There is not much I can sort of control aside from giving it everything. So if that is not enough on the day, that is not enough on the day.

“But either way I’ve truly given everything that I have to see what I can do in this sport and I have had a lot of success along the way.”

Success is right. After raising eyebrows less than four years ago when he announced he was leaving his glamorous life of a pop star behind to focus on swimming, Simpson has defied the critics in the pool.

He made the Australian team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham where he finished fifth in the final of the 100m butterfly.

His celebrity status in the Hollywood scene, dating stars such as Miley Cyrus and Kylie Jenner, quickly propelled him to become one of the most talked about names in Australian sport.

Swimming power couple Cody Simpson and Emma McKeon. Picture: John Gass

McKeon has announced she will retire after Paris, while Simpson is yet to make a call on his future outside the pool. Photo: Instagram

He then went on to be part of Australia’s biggest sporting power couple when he started dating fellow swimmer, five-time Olympic gold medallist Emma McKeon two years ago.

Earlier this month McKeon, 29, an 11-time Olympic medallist and most decorated Australian Olympian in history, announced she was retiring from the pool after Paris. But Simpson said he still does not know what the future holds.

“I’ve purposefully put a brick wall on either side of it, in that I will address it when it comes,” he said. “But never once in my life have I not known what is next.

“Emma has never had life without swimming. I know what it is like, but she has never had it, so I’m excited for her to explore her other interests and have the time to do that because she has never had it as a kid.

“I’m very fortunate to be someone who has a lot of things on the other side to look forward to regardless and another passion and career entirely that I am able to pursue again depending on what I decide on out of the pool.

“I don’t know what I’ll do yet, but I’ll make that decision later this year.”

Simpson said maintaining his creative outlets helps keep his mental health on track. Picture: Supplied

He certainly has plenty to fall back on. Simpson said maintaining his creative outlets – from writing music, to recently publishing a children’s book, to modelling with Myer as the latest denim ambassador for their new range – helps keep his mental health on track.

“I’ve been a creative person my whole life so it is hard to not continue that output as a writer of songs and other things,” he said, adding that in the little time he has off from the pool he spends it in his home studio on the Gold Coast.

Simpson, 27, chuckles that it helps that his Myer family will be also stocking his book The Sea In Me on the department store’s shelves when it comes out later this month, adding the labour of love was also about his affinity with water, finding “calm in the chaos” and encouraging Australian kids to embrace the power of nature and solitude.

As someone who has had headlines scrutinise his every move on the arms of Cyrus after her high-profile divorce with Liam Hemsworth while carving out a pop career of his own, Simpson knows the importance of inner mental strength.

Simpson and McKeon have been together for two years. Picture: Instagram

“My experience is also about finding the calm in the chaos,” Simpson explains.

“The very highly pressurised situations that we find ourselves in can also put us in a vulnerable spot when we expose ourselves to success or failure.

“So being able to have an emotional regulation or calm in those circumstances is so important and something I’m still working on.

“But also the message for kids, especially at a time when a lot of young kids are feeling a lot more anxiety and overstimulation, it’s a nice thing to remind them, ‘Hey go out into nature, the ocean as the solitude is nice, important and feels good’.

“I always loved being at the beach as a kid, I was always somewhat independent. I’ve always enjoyed being by myself.”

Simpson needs to shave a full second off his time to have a shot at making the 100m butterfly event. Picture: Patrick Hamilton

He then adds: “I’m not necessarily an introvert but I’ve always enjoyed my solitude and being alone. I found that peace in the ocean as a kid and something I think a lot of Australian kids will be able to relate to.”

Simpson is hopeful authorities are doing what they can to make sure his sport is clean after revelations this week that the 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive but were allowed to compete at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

“I hope the governing bodies do the right thing and apply the same sort of processes and regulations they apply to everybody else,” he said.

“Hopefully they handle it in the right way because peace of mind for athletes in clean sport is so important.”

But for now all eyes are on those June trials.

Simpson’s time at the recent swimming championships was half-a-second slower than his personal best, meaning he needs to improve his time by a full second to have a shot at going to the Olympics in the 100m butterfly.

“It’s gone very fast, I came back almost four years ago in July 2020 and have been fairly non stop since then,” Simpson said. “It’s been an amazing journey and I’m certainly at the pointy end now.

“It certainly makes it easier to tolerate the discomfort knowing it is temporary and knowing that it is close to the finish line is exciting.

“You have to trust in the work that you have put in over the last four years and control it where I can control. Whether that is good enough or not is sort of not up to me I suppose.

“It just comes down to the day and you have to go in knowing I’ve given it everything and see where it lands.”